It is interesting that we feel as if we know an author because we have read and appreciated many of his or her books. In my case, I have read and enjoyed numerous writings by British author C. S. Lewis, yet I have never fully understood many of his views. Certainly, over years of reading his fantasy fiction and his classic works of Christian apologetics, I noticed his distinct (and puzzling) attitude toward women, but I never really gave his attitudes deep consideration.

Why, over the years, haven't women produced more in the arts—specifically in literature? At the turn of the century, Virginia Woolf began the answer to that important question by saying a woman could and would write given a "room of her own." This is the leisure, privacy, and financial support needed to encourage creativity that has traditionally been withheld from women either intentionally or because of the demands of other roles.

Strong-Willed Woman. What is your reaction to this phrase? Cynthia Ulrich Tobias, author of the book, A Woman of Strength and Purpose, and a self-proclaimed strong-willed woman, believes that if you have a negative reaction to the term “strong-willed woman,” you’ve probably encountered a woman who has let her strong will go sideways. The purpose of Cynthia’s book is to teach Strong-Willed Women (or as Cynthia abbreviates, SWW) to not let their strong will go sideways, but to direct their strong will to improve relationships, expand influence, and honor God.

One thing becomes clear in reading A Year of Biblical Womanhood: to be a woman of valor does not require fitting a particular mold. Rather, it requires a heart willing to seek God and cultivate virtues found throughout Scripture . . . Held Evans' book is filled with honesty, humor, and grace, and her book is a great tool to begin, or continue, conversing about what "biblical womanhood" means for us all.

Proverbs 21: 9 says that “It is better to live in a corner of the housetop than in a house shared with a contentious wife.” While sitting on one’s rooftop is not technically a prescribed punishment for a woman’s belligerence, Rachel Held Evans decided that a minute of roof time per contentious remark of the previous month was an appropriate penance. Because she is accused of making a mockery of the Bible with her new book, A Year of Biblical Womanhood: How a Liberated Woman Found Herself Sitting on Her Roof, Covering Her Head, and Calling Her Husband Master, one might think

If, like me, you are neither a theologian nor a professor, no need to fear opening the covers of Manfred Brauch's Abusing Scripture: The Consequences of Misreading the Bible . . . Professor Brauch is writing primarily to evangelicals who, like himself, hold the Bible as the unique word of God, guiding our faith and daily practice. Brauch contends that those who claim this high level of commitment to Scripture are the more accountable to rightly divide the word of truth. Yet, Brauch claims, "on a regular basis, in our interpretation and application of the Bible, we

Pastor Leslie Ann McKinney passionately believes that God loves and accepts his daughters and has created Accepted in the Beloved: A Devotional Bible Study for Women on Finding Healing and Wholeness in God's Love to help women know and experience this love for themselves. The book is suitable for individual and group studies, but it is also a helpful resource for spiritual directors and other mentors who work with women who have been wounded in their relationships or in their faith communities.

In this day when Thomas Friedman is reminding us the world has been "flattened" by globalization and Christianity Today is counseling, "All churches should be multicultural" (April 2005), this responsible analysis of Africa's presence in the Bible should be must reading for all thinking Christians who want to deepen their knowledge of the ethnic equality of Christians throughout the ages and in particular the true presence of Africans in our sacred Scripture.

And the Spirit Moved Them was written to demonstrate that the true origin of the modern American women’s rights movement was not the Seneca Falls Women’s Rights Convention of 1848, but the Anti-Slavery Convention of American Women held in New York City in 1837. Author Helen LaKelly Hunt gives a fascinating historical account of these early abolitionist suffragists, whose power as reformers and social justice advocates arose through the convergence of various key personalities and events, a common Christian faith and commitment to social justice, and the willingness to join with